14 dead in Karachi mosque blast

Fourteen people were killed and more than 125 were wounded today in an apparent suicide bombing at a Shia Muslim mosque packed with worshippers in Pakistan, officials said.

The mosque, at the Sindh Madrassah tul Islam, a government-run religious school in the southern port city of Karachi, was packed for Friday afternoon prayers when it was shattered by the fourth, and worst, bomb attack in five days in Pakistan.

The Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf, condemned the bombing as a "heinous act of terrorism" and ordered an immediate investigation to trace the culprits.

Angry Shia immediately to the streets in the centre of the city, pelting cars and shops with stones and setting fire to a state-run petrol station and several vehicles.

The school, which houses students aged between four to 18, has separate mosques for Sunni and Shia Muslim worshippers.

The explosion shattered windows and pocked the walls with shrapnel and blood. Most of the victims were said to be adults who went to the mosque for prayers.

"It appears to be a suicide attack," said provincial security adviser Aftab Sheikh. "The explosives were attached to the body of the bomber, who was apparently in the third row of worshippers."

A police explosives expert at the site of the blast said he had found no timing or radio devices, indicating the blast have been caused by a suicide bomber.

Aftab Sheikh, a senior politician responsible for law and order in Sindh province, where Karachi is located, blamed anti-state elements for the blast. He said: "Today's bomb attack was carried out by those people who were behind other terrorist attacks in Karachi." He added: "I condemn this attack, it was a barbaric act."

Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and its business hub, has been hit by frequent acts of terrorism and sectarian violence.

Earlier on Friday, three people were wounded in Quetta, capital of Baluchistan province, when a small bomb exploded opposite a hotel due to host a weekend investment conference; on Thursday, another small bomb exploded outside the ticket office of Quetta railway station, but caused no injuries; and on Monday, a car bomb exploded in the fishing town of Gawadar, in the far south of Baluchistan, killing three Chinese technicians working on a project to build an major port.

Police have been on alert in Karachi since April, when they found weapons and explosives in a raid on a building. It was not clear, however, whether the mosque attack was linked to that weapons find.

About 80% of Pakistan's 150 million people are Sunni, and the rest Shia. Most live together in peace, but radical groups on both sides are responsible for frequent deadly attacks.